The One He Couldn't Get
by pobre cita
Summary: Lily never really liked James. She finally told him off, in which case James is greatly affected. He decides a change is in order. But it's not gonna be easy. Takes after OotP. Do people still read L&J stories? Finally updated after 5 years!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or the first line that James says. We all know they belong to J.K. Rowling.  
  
Scene: The 5th years of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had just finished their Defense Against the Dark Arts exam and were now heading out to the school grounds to relax and enjoy before their next exam. Just then, James Potter and Sirius Black started "playing around" with Snape. Lily Evans comes and starts yelling at James. When she leaves, James is a bit disturbed by what Lily says but brushes it off.  
  
"Who wants to see me take off Snivelly's pants?" James yelled to the audience.  
  
The crowd cheered and whistled in agreement, anticipating what they might see.  
  
But just as James was about to flick his wand, he saw a very red and angry looking McGonagall try to make her way through, to the center of the crowd.  
  
"Mr. Potter! Release him this instant! 50 points from Gryffindor! And detention! For harming another student! I expect more from you!" And with that, she turned and stormed back to the castle.  
  
When she was gone, James noticed a deafening silence.  
  
"Serves you right, Potter." a female voice interrupted the quiet atmosphere. Everyone turned and saw Lily with her arms crossed.  
  
"Serves me right? Serves me right? How is it right that I was the only one who got detention when Snivellus called you a -- a -- you-know-what? I defended you, Evans!" James yelled in frustration.  
  
"You see, that's where you're wrong, Potter. I don't need defending, seeing that the word mudblood doesn't affect me at all. Whereas if people insulted you, you get mad easily and start hexing away. But it's okay if you insult other people, right? You're weak. Not to mention a conceited, pompous git. And you never admit it if you're wrong. If you'd just deflate your head a bit, I'd probably consider you a real person." Lily then turned on her heel and walked towards the castle, her friends trailing behind her. James continued staring at the spot where she had been.  
  
"Hey Prongs!" Remus snapped him out of his daze.  
  
"What?" James said, shaking his head.  
  
"I think you forgot something..." said Remus, pointing behind him.  
  
"Oh yeah! Hmm... Maybe we should keep him like that. He landed me in detention after all. I think he's turning red. It makes him look less pale. It looks good on you Snivelly!" James continued to mock Snape until he got a disapproving tutting sound from Remus.  
  
"Fine. I'm getting sick of staying around Snivellus anyway," said James. He muttered the counter curse and beckoned the rest of the Marauders to go back to the castle, leaving Snape lying on the grass in a heap.  
  
***  
  
Dinnertime with the Marauders was usually an amusing event because they always made it fun for.. well... most people. But this time, James, who usually very loud, was now silent and deep in thought. It caught his friends' attention when some students congratulated them for a job well done on Snape. Usually James would start boasting about his latest antic, but this time, it seemed that he didn't hear what they said.  
  
"Prongs? Prongs? Hell-o? Prongs? Hey Prongs!" Sirius waved his hand in front of his friend. He had just finished talking to a group of girls who "happened to pass by".  
  
"What?" James snapped.  
  
"What's with you? You've been like this since we came in the castle! You didn't notice that girl who was trying to talk to you! You haven't even touched your food! Something's wrong, James. What's up? Come on, you can tell me." said Sirius.  
  
James smiled. This was the side of Sirius that most people didn't see, his caring side for his friends. 'That's why he's my best friend.' He thought. "I'm alright, but there is something bothering me. I'll tell you later."  
  
"Okay, as long as you aren't dying or anything." Sirius said with a chuckle.  
  
"Hey when's your detention? Too bad you got caught by McGonagall. She gives bad detentions." Peter said, looking sympathetic.  
  
"I don't know actually. Guess I'm going to have to go to her office and ask." James replied.  
  
"You're going to do what? Don't go to her office!" Sirius exclaimed.  
  
"Oh come off it, Padfoot. McGonagall would give James extra detention for not asking. You know that." said Remus.  
  
"Moony's right. Besides, I think I deserve it..." James said thoughtfully.  
  
This made Remus spit out his drink, Peter gasp and Sirius choke. Other people sitting near them looked to see what was going on.  
  
"E-excuse me? Did you just say what I think you just said? Are you admitting defeat by saying you deserve it?" Remus said incredulously.  
  
James was silent for a moment. "Yeah." he replied after a while.  
  
"Okay, who are you and what have you done to my best friend?" Sirius demanded. Then, a realization dawned on to him. "Wait, is this about what Evans said, because you know she --" he cut of his sentence when he saw James' silencing look.  
  
"Not here!" He hissed. He made a sign to go up to the dormitory.  
  
As they were standing up, people around them looked to see where they were going. Lily was one of them. And it was another unusual thing that James didn't even mind her when they walked passed her. He just stared forward, and something was definitely bothering him.  
  
"What are those boys up to now?" she muttered to herself.  
  
***  
  
"Okay Prongs. What's up? Why did you make us stop eating dinner and why did you make us leave the Hall?" Remus inquired. He was, after all, still pretty hungry.  
  
They had just entered the Gryffindor common room and were now heading their dormitory.  
  
"It's what Evans said earlier, isn't it? Why do you even care what she thinks when clearly she doesn't care what you think?" Sirius asked, exasperated.  
  
"Because I just do! Alright? I care what she thinks about me because I like her!" James yelled, surprising his friends. They knew that James had an infatuation on Lily, but they never thought this was serious.  
  
James thought back to what Lily had said. Despite the fact that he hated admitting it, her words had stung him.  
  
"I don't need defending, seeing that the word mudblood doesn't affect me at all. Whereas if people insulted you, you get mad easily and start hexing away. But it's okay if you insult other people, right? You're weak. Not to mention a conceited, pompous git. And you never admit it if you're wrong. If you'd just deflate your head a bit, I'd probably consider you a real person."  
  
Is he really weak? Is he really a conceited, pompous git as Lily says he is? Why did he even care? Sirius was right, he shouldn't care what she thinks because she doesn't care what he thinks anyway. But he knew. He knew he cared a lot.  
  
"Bloody hell." he said out loud.  
  
"What?" Sirius asked his friend.  
  
"Nothing, it's nothing..." Said James.  
  
"Oh come on James, you drag us out of dinner to do what? To think? We're your friends, and we're supposed to help you out. Now how can we do that if we don't even know what's wrong?" Remus said wearily. He was getting sick of waiting for James to share what was on his mind.  
  
"Alright. But you guys promise not to tell. Especially you, Wormtail. Yeah, Padfoot's right, it is about Evans. Every time I ask her out, she always puts me down. I know I can have any girl here but I had to choose the one that I couldn't get. I don't understand. I'm smart, a great Quidditch player, a good-looking --"James was suddenly interrupted by Remus.  
  
"See, that's your problem, Prongs. She's right. You are a bit conceited sometimes. You proved it to us just now. And you do have a temper. I don't think there ever was a time you didn't hex someone just because they said something bad about you." he said.  
  
James couldn't say anything to this. He knew Remus was right.  
  
"I know! Why don't you date one of Lily's friends to get her jealous?" Peter said, happy that he had given some input in the conversation.  
  
"Don't be stupid, Wormtail, she'd just be happy to get James off her back." Sirius said.  
  
"Urgh. I forgot, I have to go to McGonagall's office to get my detention date. See you guys later." James said as he trudged out of the dormitory.  
  
"I still think you're insane for going!" Sirius called after him.  
  
***  
  
Lily was walking up to the Gryffindor tower when she bumped into James.  
  
"Hey Evans." James said, and continued walking.  
  
'Strange...' she thought. Before she could stop herself, she turned around to face his retreating back and started yelling.  
  
"Alright, Potter! What are you up to? And don't say 'nothing' because when you do, it always means something! Now spit it out! What mean thing are you going to do now?"  
  
James stopped walking and turned to face her. "I was just going to McGonagall's office to get my detention date." he said simply.  
  
"I don't believe you." Lily said unsurely.  
  
"You can come with me if you like." he replied. This was, after all, his chance to show Lily that he did admit when he was wrong, even though he still thought he wasn't.  
  
"I don't think so. You might be off to do something dangerous and I'll have nothing of it." she said, although she wasn't really believing what she was saying.  
  
"I told you, I'm just getting my detention slip. It was my fault after all, right?" he said innocently.  
  
She gasped at this statement. Did he, James Potter, pompous prick, admit that he was at fault?  
  
But seeing the smug look on James' face, she immediately regained composure. "Wipe that stupid smile off your face, Potter. You may be confessing that you're wrong, but that still does not make you less of a big-headed prick!"  
  
She turned and was prepared to continue her way to the tower, but then James stopped her.  
  
"Wait! Evans! Go out with me!" he asked her.  
  
Lily took a deep breath and continued walking up.  
  
"Evans! Evans!" James yelled after her.  
  
'Urgh! Why does she have to be so difficult?' He wondered. It was very frustrating.  
  
He started walking to McGonagall's office again. He recalled the little encounter and tried to see why she had insulted him again.  
  
"Wipe that stupid smile off your face, Potter. You may be confessing that you're wrong, but that still does not make you less of a big-headed prick!"  
  
Was it because he smiled when he saw that he could surprise Evans? It was then that he realized that it was because he smiled! And not just smiled. He had smiled smugly. He had shown his egotistic self again, just when he was doing so well in hiding it!  
  
'This is going to take a while.' he thought. 


	2. Chapter 2

"Stupid prat." Lily muttered.  
  
She was walking up the stairway to the Gryffindor tower and was thinking about her encounter with James.  
  
He was never going get it. James was never going to understand, no matter how many times she told him off.  
  
'And to think I liked him in our 3rd year! Ugh. Well, people change, and he certainly changed for the worst. God, even Remus couldn't control him, and they're good friends! He's like a toad that won't stop swelling up!'  
  
'There are so much things I can say about Potter. I hate the way he messes his hair up, does he actually think it's cute? I hate it when he hexes people when they annoy him. I hate the way he picks on Severus, although sometimes I think he's asking for it. But the one thing I hate about Potter the most is that he thinks he's on top of the world.'  
  
And with these thoughts, she was more resigned not to let James have what he wants.  
  
***  
  
The next day at the Great Hall, students were coming in to have breakfast. Lily and her friends were already there, munching on toast and chatting about the day's events.  
  
"So I was thinking, maybe I could pretend to be sick and skip Transfiguration. I'm getting so bad at it that I don't even want to take up the subject anymore!" Megara, one of Lily's friends, exclaimed.  
  
"Don't be stupid Meg, you can't skip Transfiguration. What if we learn something really important? I doubt you can afford to skip. You need all the help you can get!" Sarah interjected.  
  
But Lily, who usually voiced out her opinion, only mumbled to herself. She was still wondering what James had done the night before and wished that, whatever it was, she had stopped it.  
  
"Lily? What's up? Why are you so silent? You're acting like how James acted at dinner yesterday," said Bridget.  
  
At the mention of James' name, she sat at attention.  
  
"Potter? What about Potter? What did he do now?" Lily demanded.  
  
"He didn't do anything." a voice behind them spoke.  
  
They all turned around and saw the Marauders standing behind them.  
  
"Oh, and, just in case you're wondering, Evans, my detention is on Friday night, with Binns." James informed her with a grin. He wasn't waiting for a reply though, because after saying this, he turned to his heel, and left to sit at the end of the table.  
  
Sirius, though, was in no hurry to leave.  
  
"Ladies! You look absolutely splendid this morning!" he said, looking at Lily and her friends.  
  
He received a chorus of "thank you"-s, "you too!"-s and "hi Sirius!"-s from Lily's friends but only received a "put a cork in it, Black. You're so big- headed." from her.  
  
"Sor-ry Evans, I was just trying to be polite. I'll never greet you again." Sirius said, looking hurt. He then walked to where James was sitting.  
  
She didn't know why he was so upset about her calling him a big head, but she didn't care.  
  
"Lily! What was that about? He was just trying to be friendly! And you had to shoot him down!" Sarah hissed.  
  
"Yeah, you know, he's better than James. He's nicer." Bridget said.  
  
"Ugh! What's this, defend-Sirius-day? Fine, I'll go apologize." Lily said with annoyance.  
  
She walked over to where the Marauders were sitting. When she was in front of them, Remus gave her a warm smile. James looked at her suspiciously but Sirius didn't pay any attention to her.  
  
"Hey Black, can I talk to you for a second?" Lily asked nicely.  
  
"What do you want?" Sirius said, looking very grumpy indeed.  
  
"I just want to apologize for shooting you down like that. It was rude of me. In truth, I think that you're better than some people here." she then looked at James.  
  
"How about we be friends?" Lily said with great uncertainty. After all, she was trying to be friends with the best friend of the person she despised.  
  
Sirius looked uncertain too.  
  
"Really? You want to be friends?" he asked.  
  
"Sure." she said. After all, she was friends with Remus, why couldn't she be with Sirius?  
  
"Okay then, friends." Sirius said, giving her a smile. They shook on it and Lily went back to her spot.  
  
"That took a while. What happened?" Megara asked her.  
  
"Oh, nothing much, Black and I are just friends now." Lily said simply.  
  
A squeal of joy broke out within their group. Lily had to cover her ears.  
  
"What was that about?" she asked, once the squealing was over.  
  
"So, we can talk to Sirius whenever we want then? Since we're YOUR friends and he's your friend now too! We wont have to wait for him to come up to us or find an excuse to talk to him anymore!" Sarah exclaimed.  
  
"I guess. But why would you want to --" Lily was broken off by Bridget.  
  
"Don't you see? This is our chance! We can now get close to the --" she started.  
  
"Who said anything about getting close to the Marauders? I'm just friends with Remus and Sirius. No one said anything about being on friendly terms with Potter and Pettigrew." Lily said.  
  
"Yeah but --" her friends pleaded with her.  
  
"That's it." Lily said with a tone of finality in her voice.  
  
Lily's friends knew that there was no arguing with her. She was, after all, the friend of Remus and Sirius, not them. Only she had the courage to be their friend, and they had to rely on her to make friends with the infamous Marauders.  
  
Without being aware that they were, Megara, Sarah and Bridget all gave an involuntary sigh.  
  
*** 


	3. Chapter 3

James watched as Sirius and Lily talked about becoming friends. As he continued to watch, a pang of jealousy surged through him.  
  
'Sirius... and... and Evans... friends?' James thought with bewilderment.  
  
It wasn't fair. He was the one who tried to get her to talk to him normally all these years, not Sirius. Sirius didn't even care. But he got there first, without even trying. What's he got that James didn't have anyway? All these years... and it was Sirius whom Lily talked to. It was like a nightmare that came true.  
  
When Lily left, he let out a sigh of frustration.  
  
"Hey Prongs. What's up?" Sirius asked, looking at him.  
  
"Nothing's up." James said through gritted teeth.  
  
"Why'd you sigh then?" Sirius shot back, satisfied.  
  
"I was just thinking about... my detention with Binns on Friday. I'm going to get so bored within the first 10 minutes of my so-called punishment. I only have about 3 days to energize myself so I can do whatever he wants me to do in a flash." James covered up.  
  
He realized, that, after all, it wasn't Sirius fault that he and Evans were now on speaking terms and first name basis. She was the one who offered, he just accepted. Besides, it's not like there's anything going on with them, right? He was James' best friend, and he knew that he liked Evans. He wouldn't do anything. That's how much of a faithful friend Sirius is to James, and, except for a few minutes of doubt a while back, James was a faithful friend to Sirius as well.  
  
"Oh, yeah, and you're missing Quidditch practice, aren't you? Bad for you." Sirius said.  
  
"WHAT?? What Quidditch practice?" James demanded.  
  
"Yeah, didn't you see the notice on the board? The next game's coming up in a few weeks!" Sirius said, looking at James as if he was the biggest idiot in the world.  
  
"Ugh. I'm skipping Quidditch practice for detention with Binns. Things cannot get any worse!" James said, putting his face on his hands.  
  
"Cheer up. Hey look, it's Snivellus! Hey Snivellus!" Sirius called.  
  
Snape passed by their table with his nose stuck in yet another Defense Against the Dark Arts book.  
  
"Snivelly, why don't you join us? Oh, wait, never mind! I don't want all that grease from your hair dropping onto my food!" Sirius said.  
  
Snape knew better to provoke Black. If he did, Black might start a fight. And he knew better than to duel in front of the teachers.  
  
"Don't ignore me now, Snivelly!" Sirius called to him again.  
  
"Yeah Snivelly, I believe we still have a... 'discussion' to finish! You know, the one of yesterday!" James added, a smile creeping on his face.  
  
"Yeah! Snivelly!" Peter added. Peter only said something bad when he knew that Sirius and James were on his side and that they'd protect him whenever someone picked on him. He got all high and mighty when he was with the rest of the Marauders.  
  
Remus, on the other hand, didn't join in the taunting but he didn't try to stop his friends either. He knew it was useless. They wouldn't listen to him, so what was the point?  
  
Snape finally reached the Slytherin table. As soon as he sat down, his friends started whispering among each other and shot evil looks towards the Marauders.  
  
"God, can't you be a bit humane for once Potter?" Lily said, sounding really annoyed. "You're not as great as you think you are, you know."  
  
When he heard this, he wanted to hit himself on the forehead. He had done it again!  
  
Seeing the look on James face, Sirius patted him on the shoulder.  
  
"Don't worry, Prongs. I'm sure she isn't going to yell at you again this time." he consoled.  
  
"Oh, that helps." James said sarcastically.  
  
"I'll talk to her, if you like..." Sirius said.  
  
This didn't help at all. It only made things worse. It only reminded James that Sirius and Lily were friends now and he wasn't included in their friendship.  
  
He couldn't help it. It was just that every time Snape was in view, it was like someone pressed a button that made him start taunting him again.  
  
'Why can't I stop??' James wondered, still angry at himself for opening his mouth when Snape passed them.  
  
'It's because I've been doing it for 5 years. It's a bad habit I can't get rid off. And it's keeping me from getting Evans.' James answered his own question.  
  
Then he realized that just a few moments ago, he thought things couldn't get any worse. He was wrong. It just did.  
  
***  
  
Transfiguration was the first subject for the 5th year Gryffindors. And, luckily for James today, it wasn't with the Slytherins. It was his chance to practice some restraint on the Hufflepuffs.  
  
The Hufflepuffs were nice... sometimes. They often got on James nerves with their happy-sunshine attitude and their believe-gossip-and-pass-it-on motto. Oftentimes, they would try to talk to him, or Sirius, or Remus. And, oftentimes, he cut them off. It wasn't them... Not really. He just wasn't in the mood to talk when they tried to. Or was it he just wasn't in the mood to talk to them?  
  
And because they got on his nerves a lot, a little hex would fix them straight... when a teacher wasn't looking, of course. But it didn't matter, they never told anyway. So he'd hex over and over again.  
  
But not this time. There wasn't going to be any hexing this time. He'd talk to them even before they talk to him. And he'd try to be sincere with what he said (try only though. It was just practice, after all. He really didn't have to mean it yet.).  
  
Actually the main reason why James didn't like the Hufflepuffs that much was because he believed that he was more good-looking, smarter, and better than any Hufflepuff, anywhere. But James was determined to do a bit of deflating. No matter how tempted he was to snap at them, or to hex them, he wouldn't.  
  
'The perfect practice' James thought as class started.  
  
***  
  
It was after class and just as he had predicted, some of the Hufflepuffs came up to them.  
  
"Hi James! Hi Sirius! Hi Remus!" they sang.  
  
James tried his best not to cringe. Remus was polite and said hello back and Sirius did his thing as he talked to the girls.  
  
Half of the crowd approached James. Before they could say anything, though, James spoke first.  
  
"Good morning ladies! You're looking lovely today!" James said while trying to remember what Sirius had said in the Great Hall this morning.  
  
The girls beamed at him.  
  
"Hey James, did you hear about what that ugly Slytherin did to Moaning Myrtle? He flushed some dung bombs down her toilet and now it's worse than ever!" one of the girls said, giggling.  
  
James very much wanted to say that he didn't care but instead he tried to be polite.  
  
"Really?" He said, attempting to sound interested. He didn't get what was so funny about it though. As far as he was concerned, anything the Slytherins did was lame, not funny. But anything anyone did to the Slytherins was always very amusing.  
  
'What's the name of this girl again?' He racked his brain for her name but he really couldn't remember. 'It's so hard when so many girls are always over you. NO! Wait, I didn't think that, I didn't think that, I didn't think that.' He tried to concentrate on his mission.  
  
He looked around for Lily, to show her that he could be... humane. But she was already walking towards the Charms classroom with her friends, her back to James and the group of girls. She wasn't even paying attention!  
  
He didn't even know that the first girl was done talking.  
  
"Yeah! And I heard that --" Another girl started sharing what she was told.  
  
'Remember, chivalry isn't dead. Chivalry isn't dead. I am the king of chivalry. A lot of girls love me.' James repeated to himself. Then, realizing what he had said, he thought, 'No! No! I'm not the king. Not a lot of girls love me! Well, not really.' He corrected himself but his egoistic side always seemed to show.  
  
"Come on Prongs! We have Charms next!" Sirius called after him.  
  
"Sorry, ladies, but Charms awaits." James said, silently thanking Sirius.  
  
He jogged to catch up with Sirius. When he finally did, he mumbled a "thank you" to him, leaving Sirius clueless about what he was being thankful about.  
  
*** 


	4. Chapter 4

It was common knowledge that Charms was not James' best subject. He had always pestered Lily to help him. But every time he did, Lily always refused.

The Gryffindors had this particular subject with the Ravenclaws. The Ravenclaws weren't as pesky as the Hufflepuffs, but there were some know-it- alls. The Ravenclaws, were, of course, known to be very intelligent. James also had a few admirers from this house, and every time they offered their help in Charms, James would answer with a "bugger off".

But like in Transfiguration, he was determined to show the world (and Lily) that he was a good guy.

As the Marauders entered the classroom, James surveyed the seating arrangements. As usual, Lily was sitting in the second row, with her friends beside her. She was bringing her things out for Charms.

Usually, James sat right behind her, playing "stalker". Lily didn't like this at all, and it didn't help James \get on Lily's good side when he always bugged her. This definitely didn't score points for him, but he didn't really care that it only pissed Lily off even more. But that was before. This is now.

'Where should I sit? I can sit in the back again, but she'd think I'm just going to bother her again. How about in front? She'd have a great view of me. I mean, me and my new attitude. But that'll be an easy target range for hexing. Nah, Lily wouldn't hex! Right?' James debated with himself. He decided that he'd take the risk of having Lily hex him and headed towards the front row.

Sirius, Remus and Peter followed him. When they sat down, Sirius turned to face the group of girls behind him.

"Hey Megara, Bridget, Sarah. And of course, hello to you, Lily! How are you guys doing? It's been such a long time since I've seen you all!" he said, giving them all the same smile he had given them during breakfast.

"Haha, very funny, Sirius. I'm doing okay. How about you? Got into trouble lately?" Lily asked.

When Lily called Sirius by his first name, and not Black, James had to cringe. Again, the events of that morning came to play. How Lily came over and offered to be friends, and how Sirius agreed. He just couldn't get over it.

Remus noticed this. He was getting really worried for his friend. James usually never cared about what any girl thought before. But this particular girl was seriously affecting him. He made a mental note to ask James about it later, and to get the whole story this time.

"Of course not! Do you really think that I would get into trouble, so early in the day?" said Sirius, looking innocent. But Lily could look through that.

"Actually, yes I would. Knowing you." Lily said with a smile.

"Alright, so I would usually get into trouble, but not today. I was too busy. Had something important to do." He replied.

"What on earth could be more important for you than trouble-making?" Lily said, pretending to be shocked.

"Well, I think Sirius was -" James started, trying tom include himself in the conversation.

"Piss off, Potter, I wasn't asking you." Lily interrupted.

"But I was just -" he tried again.

"I said, piss. off..." Lily said angrily. He just couldn't take a hint, could he? "What were you saying, Sirius?" emphasizing on his name.

"I was talking to the Hufflepuff girls. You know, trying to be friendly." said Sirius.

"More like trying to get friendly. You are such a flirt." Lily said.

"There's nothing wrong with flirting, right Sirius?" said Sarah.

"Right you are Sarah!" Sirius said with a wink.

While her 3 friends started talking to him, Lily went back to fixing her things.

While Professor Flitwick droned on about the theory of a new charm they were learning that day, Sirius was writing a note to Remus:

"Moony --

Really worried about James. Think I should talk to Evans, see if she could give him a chance?

-Padfoot"

He sent the note flying to Remus' side of the table, which landed neatly in front of him. Sirius watched as Remus opened the note and read it. He then gave a distinct shake of the head that clearly said no.

Sirius rolled his eyes. He knew Remus was only thinking about what Lily would typically say if he did try to talk to her about James, but Sirius was determined to make things better between the both of them. Remus would be grateful when the war between the two was over, and it would all be thanks to him.

He pulled out a new piece of parchment and started scribbling a note to Lily.

"Hey ever gorgeous Lily! I really need to talk to you about Charms. You know I'm crap at it. Could you maybe help me, say, tonight at the Common Room, after dinner? You can't say no, we're friends now! Thank you in advanced (because I just know you're going to help me!) -Sirius"

He saw Remus and James give him a suspicious look when he tossed the note over to Lily's table, but didn't mind it. He'll just think of a good excuse to tell them later. Moments later, he found his little piece of parchment back on his table.

"Sirius --

Sure I can help you, but couldn't you have asked me after class? See you later.

-Lily"

Sirius smiled to himself. Sure his plans usually sounded outrageous in theory, but they always somehow worked when things were set into motion. He didn't doubt that this would be the same.


	5. Chapter 5

Lily and Sirius agreed to walk to the Gryffindor Common Room together after dinner for their supposed study group. As she finished her meal, Lily was more determined than ever to ignore James after he developed this habit of butting in on her conversations in Charms class that day. She explained to her friends where she was going and why, who then immediately started squealing and talking about how lucky Lily was to be Sirius' "friend".

"I never knew Sirius needed help with Charms. I always thought he did relatively well there. Better than James, at least." Bridget wondered out loud.

"Well he just asked. I don't know. Maybe he's having trouble now." Lily answered her thoughts.

"Hold on a sec, Lily. Is there something going in between the two of you?" Megara asked.

"Not that there's anything wrong with that, right Meg?" Sarah interjected.

"Are you jealous, Meg?" Bridget asked sarcastically.

"No of course not! I was just saying that--" Megara started saying.

"Will you three cut it out? I'm just tutoring him in Charms. It's just like when I help you out in Potions, Sarah. Or you in Transfiguration, Meg. It's not a big deal. Nothing is going on between the both of us. He may be a friend now, but he's still Sirius Black, troublemaker extraordinaire. And you know how I feel about troublemakers." Lily told them.

With that, she swiftly got out of her chair, and started walking to the Marauder's end of the table.

"Are you all set, Sirius?" Lily asked him.

"Yeah, just hold on a second Lily." Sirius replied as he shovelled three more helpings of pudding in his mouth and downed his juice, causing it to dribble down to his robes.

James, who was witnessing this, tried to reason with himself about his best friend's mysterious rendezvous with Lily.

'Sirius would never go for Evans, he knows I like her. But then where are they going now? What a traitor. No, no. That can't be it. I don't know what's going on! I'll have to talk to him about this later.'

Sirius was very much aware of his best friend's questioning glares, be he could not tell James about his plan, not yet. He had to see how his conversation with Lily would go before he could give James a diagnosis with his possibilities with her.

"See you guys later" Sirius said, giving James a particularly meaningful look.

"Yeah, later." James replied distinctively.

"You know, I've been trying to think about why on earth would you need help in Charms. I didn't think you were bad at it. In fact, Potter might need more help than you." Lily voiced out. They were nearing the corridor that led to the common room now.

"Why, would you have helped James if he asked you again? In fact, what do you care about how he's doing in Charms?" Sirius asked with a smirk.

"I don't care. It was just a comparison. You get what I mean! Caput Draconis." Lily said defensively while giving the password to the portrait that concealed the Gryffindor House.

"Yes, I get what you mean. Actually I didn't really ask you here for a Charms tutorial." Sirius said, letting Lily pass through the portrait first.

Lily decided to find out why exactly Sirius asked her to be here when they found a place to sit. She chose the two chairs by the fireplace.

As they settled down, Sirius noticed that Lily looked very suspicious and knew that she was not stupid enough to not even have an inking for the purpose of their meeting.

"So, why exactly did you ask me here Sirius?" Lily asked.

"Well... It's about James." Sirius replied timidly.

"What about Potter?" Lily asked indifferently.

'This is good. At least she isn't mad that I deceived her about needing help in Charms... Yet.' Sirius thought. In truth, he hadn't really thought about what he was going to talk to her about exactly, except for his main goal that was to get Lily to give James a chance. He was vaguely aware that the common room was starting to fill up, but he had to think. He knew he'd have to show a strong front. He had to imply that Remus and Peter were in on the plan, and he hoped that they wouldn't find out that he included them.

"Well?" Lily asked again.

"You see, we, that is, Remus, Peter and I, don't quite understand why you have such a great distaste for our good friend James. He's really a nice guy you know, once you get to know him. Why don't you give him that chance to show that part of himself to you? Besides, it just seems a bit odd that you're always on the defensive with him. He's especially nice to you, but you're still particularly rigid when it comes to James." Sirius said slowly. He waited for Lily to bite his head off, thinking that James was a touchy subject for her, but he was very surprised her reply.

"You know how you pick on Severus Snape even though he hadn't done anything majorly offensive to you before? If he does do something to irritate you now, it's only in his defense. I know Snape rubs you guys off the wrong way with how he is. That's why you hate him so much. That's how I feel about Potter. He just rubs me off the wrong way. When I say Potter is a pompous git, I'm not lying. I am merely stating the obvious. And any chance I had given him in the past to redeem himself, he just proved me right. I can't keep giving people chances, just like you never gave Snape a chance. That's also why I feel the need to tell Potter off when he picks on people, especially Snape. I can understand where Snape is coming from. He never did anything horrible to Potter, but still Potter feels the need to keep at it. I suppose you can say I am giving him a taste of his own medicine." Lily explained, looking very thoughtful.

Sirius never expected Lily to open up the way she did. After all, they've only been friends for a little more than 24 hours. Still, he appreciated it. It gave him a look at how Lily thought about things. He also realized that this was going to be harder than he thought.

"So, if say, James wanted one last chance to redeem himself to you, how should he go about it?" Sirius asked.

"I don't know really. Wait a minute. Did he ask you to do this?" Lily asked him suspiciously.

"No! He doesn't even know anything about this. But really, Lily, what does it take for him to get into your good graces?" Sirius pressed.

"Like I said, I don't know. I supposed he has to stop being a stupid, conceited prick." Lily said. With that, she stood up and collected her things.

"Where are you going?" Sirius asked her.

"To my room. We may be friends now, Sirius, but I'm not going to give you tips on how Potter should act in order for me to like him. He should be learning that by himself, the hard way. And anyway, I have work to do. Good night." She bade him, carrying her things to the girls' dormitory.

Sirius decided to stay where he was. He had to think about what Lily said, and how James could redeem himself to her. Hopefully, by the time the rest of the Marauders got to the common room, he would have substantial a plan for him.


End file.
